Students who
are working to learn English - along with reading, writing and arithmetic - in
the Coachella Valley public schools are making progress, according to statewide
test results released Tuesday.

An increased number of English-language
learners are improving their writing and expanding vocabulary rather than just
speaking and listening, the study has found.

The results of the 2004 California
English Language Development Test, which was taken by more than 1.3 million
children whose native language is not English, showed that all three school
districts in the Coachella Valley saw their results improve compared to the
previous year.

"We're very pleased with the
improvement in test scores," said Neil Lingle, president of the Desert Sands
Unified School District board of education. "It certainly reflects that
(teaching English to non-English speaking children) is one of our top
priorities."

The percentage of test-takers who were
classified into satisfactory levels - "advanced" or "early advanced" - in the
Desert Sands Unified School District increased to 44 percent from 42 percent in
2003.

In Palm Springs Unified School
District, the mark rose to 41 percent from the previous 37 percent, while the
Coachella Valley Unified School District saw its number slightly increasing to
33percent from 32 percent.

Being classified into "advanced" and
"early advanced" means that the student no longer needs the assistance of a
bilingual teacher in the classroom and is starting to focus on writing and
reading instead of speaking and listening, school officials said.

Statewide, 47 percent of the test
takers reached those levels of proficiency - a 4 percent increase from the year
before.

Given the large concentration of Latino
children in the Coachella Valley who came to the United States only recently,
local officials and educators praise the children and themselves for the test
results.

At Van Buren Elementary School in
Indio, 97 percent of the students took the English language test, known as
CELDT, last year. Many of the students came from Mexico to the United States
within the last few years with their parents, who are mostly farm workers and
speak only Spanish, said Principal Eileen Nurani.

Some 26 percent of the students reached
satisfactory levels in the 2004 test, while 22 percent of them reached the same
levels the year before.

"Vocabulary development, reading
comprehension and writing - these are the biggest challenges for them," said
Nurani, whose school is located close to a migrant camp.

In a bid to help the children who are
learning English as a second language expand their knowledge and use of words,
Nurani's school has introduced a program called "The Daily Vocabulary."

The program requires each homeroom
teacher to teach at least one word or expression each day with "visuals and
motions," Nurani said.

"They (children who don't speak English
at home) struggle with vocabulary," she said. "They don't hear it in their
environment."

The results this year were encouraging,
Nurani said, adding, however, that "we are hoping to see more.

School officials say the parents of the
students who took the test will receive the individual test results by mail.

The test is given annually to school
children whose primary language isn't English. It measures listening, speaking,
reading and writing skills.

California has the greatest number of
students whose primary language isn't English, education officials said.